A

7 R
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F E SUBMITTED BY
ANISHMETA MITRA
BY RUSKIN BOND
 GENERAL OVERVIEW
“Lamp of Sacrifice” urged giving one's best

“ Lamp of Truth ” emphasizes on morality in

architecture and honesty in craft.

“ LAMP OF MEMORY ” EMPHASIZES VITAL

IMPORTANCE OF CREATING PLACES WORTH CARING
ABOUT AND TO PROTECTING THOSE WORTH
REMEMBERING.
 LAMP OF SACRIFICE
1. “Architecture is the art which so disposes and adorns
the edifices raised by man for whatsoever uses, that the
sight of them contribute to his mental health, power,
and pleasure.”
HE QUICKLY GOES ON TO MAKE A
DISTINCTION BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AS AN
ART AND BUILDING AS ENGINEERING. WHAT IS
ARCHITECTURAL IN A BUILDING SURPASSES ITS
COMMON USE, TO A GREAT EXTENT IS
UNNECESSARY, RATHER IS ADORNMENT, AN
OFFERING OR 'SACRIFICE' OF WHAT WE FIND
DESIRABLE.
 ACT OF
SACRIFICE

“it (sacrifice) prompts us to the offering of precious

things, merely because they are precious, not because
they are useful or necessary.”
 HE GOES ON TO EXPRESS HOW ALREADY BY HIS TIME THIS TYPE OF
STATEMENT WAS AN ANATHEMA. SOMEHOW THE COMMON WISDOM OF
THE DAY HAD DETERMINED VIRTUE TO BE FOUND IN PROVIDING THE
LARGEST RESULT FOR THE LEAST COST, WHAT TODAY MAY BE DESCRIBED
AS 'VALUE ENGINEERING'. SPECIFICALLY, THIS WAS MANIFEST IN CHURCH
ARCHITECTURE. RUSKIN ATTRIBUTES IT TO TWO PREVAILING NOTIONS
THAT HAD ARISEN-
 FIRST, THE ABSENCE OF
ORNAMENT IN PARTICULAR
DEMONSTRATES IN SOME
WAY EVIDENCE OF
RESTRAINT, SELF-CONTROL
OR PROPRIETY.

SECOND, HE DESCRIBES A
FALSE PIETY THAT
PROCLAIMED A MORE
HONORABLE SACRIFICE BE
MADE IN A MINISTRY TO THE
POOR AND EXTENDING
KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD
RATHER THAN “SMOOTHING
PILLARS OR CARVING
PULPITS.”
 RUSKIN WAS QUICK TO POINT OUT, “THE
QUESTION IS NOT BETWEEN GOD'S HOUSE AND
HIS POOR: IT IS NOT BETWEEN GOD'S HOUSE
AND HIS GOSPEL. IT IS BETWEEN GOD'S HOUSE
AND OURS.

 IT IS CLEAR THAT THE WORTH OF THE CHURCH

AS A PHYSICAL BUILDING WAS OF
QUESTIONABLE VALUE; HOWEVER, THE
SACRIFICE OF THE CONGREGATION IN GIVING
THEIR BEST BESTOWED UPON IT NOBILITY. THIS
'SACRED' VIEW OF ALL ARCHITECTURE, NOT
JUST OF THE CHURCH, WAS INTRINSICALLY
UNDERSTOOD BY PREVIOUS GENERATIONS.

 RUSKIN OBSERVES THAT “ALL OLD WORK HAS

NEARLY BEEN HARD WORK”, EVEN THE WORK
OF CHILDREN AND BARBARIANS WAS ALWAYS
THEIR UTMOST. BY CONTRAST, HE NOTES THAT
OURS “HAS THE LOOK OF MONEY'S WORTH, OF
STOPPING SHORT WHEREVER AND WHENEVER
WE CAN.”
 RUSKIN CONTINUES BY URGING US TO RESIST ALL TEMPTATION OF THIS TYPE
OF WORK, OF THUS DEGRADING OURSELVES VOLUNTARILY, “LET US CONFESS
OUR POVERTY OR OUR PARSIMONY (FRUGALITY), BUT NOT BELIE OUR
HUMAN INTELLECT.” OBVIOUSLY, WE EACH ARE OF DIFFERENT MEANS AND
THERE IS THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF BEING JUDICIOUS WITH THE USE OF
RESOURCES.

 HE OFFERS PRAGMATIC ADVICE FOR WORKING WITHIN OUR MEANS YET STILL
GIVING ONE'S UTMOST: “if you cannot afford marble, use Caen stone (a French
limestone), but from the best bed; and if you cannot stone, brick, but the best
brick; preferring always what is good of a lower order of work or material, to
what is bad from a higher.”
THANK YOU